The roof over Lincoln Mall has been a topic of much public discussion. In fact it’s been a topic of much discussion — and concern — at City Hall for months.

Last summer, we began receiving complaints from mall tenants about the roof. Our fire inspector made an inspection, found significant roof defects, and sent a certified letter to mall owners. The owners received that letter, but never responded.

Then, our fire and building inspectors made a second inspection. At this inspection, they spent time on the roof, accompanied by the mall’s manager, Joan Welt, so they could view the issues together.

The city worked for months with Welt and their roofing contractor. The city had conversations with the mall’s roofing contractor in which we expressed that a phasing plan and schedule for addressing the roof issues, starting with the most severe, would be acceptable. However, to date, the mall has never provided such a plan and schedule. I was informed by the fire inspector that Welt had resigned. I saw Joan on the sidewalk outside of City Hall and she confirmed that she was no longer at the mall.

Mall tenants experienced significant leaks Dec. 20. One tenant, Home Hardware, had 40 buckets throughout the store to catch water.

After that event, and the mall’s failure to take action, the city sent notice to the mall owners to repair the roof. If the owners do not repair the roof within 15 days of the notice, the next step is for the matter to go before a judge to help resolve the issue and get the roof repaired.

Let me be clear: The city has, at no time, had any intention of “taking” ownership of the mall. The city’s intention always has been to work with the owners to get the roof repaired. We want the shops to be in business, employ staff and to be an asset to Freeport.

There has been talk about the city’s 2010 Comprehensive Plan containing a plan for the mall property. It’s very easy to throw out bits of information to mislead, which unfortunately has happened this week, but I would encourage anyone interested to go to the city’s web site (cityoffreeport.org) to see exactly what the plan says. This is what a comprehensive plan is for: it is a document in which a community explores many different options for its future. This plan was developed over 16 months and included a number of public meetings. None of the information was ever secret, and in fact the plans and options were developed with community input.

Some have asked why the city is involved in this issue. The city — like other cities throughout the country and the world — has a building code. The purpose of this building code is to ensure public safety.

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On Friday, one mall tenant experienced even more water in their store. It was so bad that the store owner slipped, fell and was injured. The purpose of a building code is to provide tools for the city to ensure public safety for situations precisely like this.

The good news is that since we sent the letter to the mall owners compelling them to repair the roof, I have spoken to one of the owners. He assured me that they will fix the roof. And on Friday morning, after the water damage and the slip and fall accident, the owners had a roofer on site to address some of the immediate issues. This is progress. Having the roof repaired so tenants — who have expressed their dissatisfaction about the situation over the past several months — can operate their businesses safely, is our goal. It looks like we just might be on the way to reaching that goal.

I would much rather talk about the purposed sidewalk program, student achievements or job expansion in this column, but I felt the need to set the record straight and eliminate the political scare tactics.